Dignity

It was a snowy/sleety kind of day....and it was nice to have the luxury of staying tucked inside. I was mindful that there are people without adequate housing or shelter. 

I've been thinking about the word dignity. There are just too many examples these days of stripping people of their dignity. And it's shameful. 

The feeling of dignity is a sense of self-worth, respect for oneself, and the belief that one is deserving of respectful treatment from others, essentially feeling valued and important as a human being. It's a feeling of be treated appropriately and not being diminished or disregarded in any situation. 

As I mentioned yesterday...any money I make on my Words on Encouragement project is going to to Maine Needs. But if I donate money...someone still needs to shop...so why don't I do the shopping. 

And after reading this post on the Maine Needs Instagram page a few days ago....I've decided I'm going to buy underwear. 

As I fill orders when I volunteer....and underwear is on the list....there's hardly ever enough. And chances are when someone needs shirts and pants...they also need underwear even if they don't ask for it. 

Having clean underwear....is so basic to our sense of dignity. 

I did a little of everything today I stitched more cards with Margie's coloring, I printed and cut up labels and inserts and made several strip collages into tags. Tonight I'm going to watch TV while I assemble kits.

This particular collage produced 14 tags with just a few tiny snippets left over. 

And...I'm just going to keep going. My goal is to buy 500 pairs of underwear. Why not aim high.

If any of you are interested in supporting my Words of Encouragement project...please contact me at joyfulputtering@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you just tags, or a whole kit. I think I can mail one kit with just one stamp.

When I was a Class Advisor at Deering High School here in Portland...we used to do fundraisers all the time. When we had a car wash....if we charged $5....we only got $5. But if we just took donations we sometimes got $10.

So if you're interested.....I'm not going to set a price...and I'm going to let you decide how much you can donate. Let's start a conversation:  joyfulputtering@gmail.com

I already have at least 8 orders! I need to get busy!